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Keep up with the Johnsons in hilarious family sitcom

THE keyword for US TV networks these days is obviously diversity. First, Modern Family showed viewers there is more to the family unit than just regular mom, dad and kids. Consider grandpa Jay Pritchett ( played by Ed O’Neill) and his Colombian wife Gloria ( Sofia Vergara) with stepson Manny ( Rico Rodriguez).

Then Fresh Off The Boat came along showing that the group of people making up the massive American population also includes a Taiwanese immigrant family. One of them is Eddie ( Hudson Yang), a boy who loves hip- hop music as much as the Asian food his mom dishes out.

Joining the ever- growing diversity movement are the Johnsons in Black- ish, a sitcom about an African- American family living the upper- middle class suburban life.

There is dad Andre ( Anthony Anderson), a successful advertising executive and head of the Urban Division in his agency. Mom is Rainbow ( Tracee Ellis Ross), a biracial anaesthesiologist. They have four children: typical teenage girl Zoey ( Yara Shahidi), Lord Of The Rings fanboy Andre Jr ( Marcus Scribner), Jack ( Miles Brown) the slightly- dimwitted one, and then there’s Diane ( Marsai Martin), the obvious smart one.

Like all families, they have problems. For Andre, who narrates the series, his main issue with his family is that they are losing touch with what makes them typically AfricanAmerican. In the first episode, dad gets upset when son Andre announces that he wants a traditional Jewish coming- of- age ceremony for himself. A Bar Mitzvah for Andre Johnson Jr, who doesn’t even play for the school’s basketball team? Dad gets livid la loca.

Then in a hilarious scene, Andre decides that his son should get a traditional African coming- of- age ceremony instead. But really, the gist of the ceremony is dad doing stereotypical things like putting on a colourful traditional robe and brushing his son’s forehead with soil. Luckily, there’s sarcastic grandpa, played by a scene- stealing Laurence Fishburne, to knock some sense into Andre.

I like how Black- ish also points out that sometimes Andre’s worries stem from ignorance, giving the audience something to think about when it comes to identity and culture. Are we defined by who we are or what we do?

In one scene, Jack and Diane talk about not wanting to go to a classmate’s party. Andre then wants to know the classmate’s race. Young Jack and Diane seem clueless about dad’s question. Then mom steps in to say she is happy that her children are colour blind. Andre again is livid that his children don’t identify people by the colour of their skin.

But you have to hand it to the kids and mom for pointing out that there’s more to a person than ethnic makeup.

Ultimately, Andre just wants to be the kind of father that he wishes he had growing up. Someone who would teach the kids to do the right thing and come to him when they have problems.

In another episode, Andre gets upset when Rainbow reveals that Andre Jr has been talking to her about puberty. Mom explains that it made sense for Andre Jr to talk her because she is a doctor.

Later, Andre tells his son how to get the ladies, but Andre Jr is not interested in any of that – he just wants to know more about certain positions and is it okay if he thinks about Helen Mirren in a rather sexual way.

I laughed out loud when Andre tries to avoid his own son by hiding underneath a pile of clothes in the laundry room – grandpa already warned him not to start that kind of conversation with his socially- awkward son.

Overall, Black- ish is a highly watchable series with likeable characters and plenty of hilarious moments to look out for. Join the Johnsons as they try their best to connect with their roots without losing sight of what really matters – and that is keeping a family together.